Method and system for implementing integrated logistics queries

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are improved methods, systems, and computer program products to manage, access, and inquire into logistics data, such as warehouse data, inventory data, and license plate data, to create an integrated logistics data set for display on a mobile computer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/879,978, filed Sep. 19, 2013, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present application relates to systems, methods, and computerprogram products for implementing integrated logistics queries.

Many types of business logic are implemented by software applications,such as enterprise software applications. For example, many enterpriseapplications are focused on business logic to perform logisticsoperations such as supply chain management. A warehouse managementsystem is one type of enterprise application that is often used tomanage and track data pertaining to a supply chain. These systems areemployed to control the movement and storage of materials within awarehouse and to process associated transactions pertaining to inventoryfor the warehouse. Such transactions include, for example, includinginventory management, shipping, receiving, put-away, and pickingtransactions. Therefore, warehouse management systems are used to handlethe receipt, storage, and movement of goods for customers and companies.

In the context of distribution centers, users of warehouse managementsystems often require the ability to review inventory availability, aswell as the relationship between items at a given location, and also thelicense plate groupings for a particular group of items. Thisinformation is often needed at locations where a computer or workstationwith access to logistics programs is not available. For example, asupply chain manager in the middle of a large warehouse might needaccess to logistics information but is not near the appropriateworkstation with inventory programs, which may be hundreds of feet away,or in a different building, for instance.

This makes it difficult for the user to determine the structure of itemsin the given location. For example, it becomes very difficult todetermine whether a given item relates to a pallet, case, box, and/oreach (“EA”) structure, if any. Further, within a license platecontrolled branch, a user also needs to determine license plates thatgroup items and lots for that location.

Therefore, with conventional management systems, users within adistribution center do not have the ability to view item informationoriginating from either the inventory, warehouse, or license platesystems. Users are forced to use three different system applications toview the item availability for a given item, lot, location, licenseplate, and warehouse detail structure, all of which a user in a remotelocation may not have access to. Instead, they are required to find aworkstation to view the logistics information, which slows downoperational and logistics efficiency, and worse, a user who does nothave the time or access to a workstation may be forced to make guesses,which may be incorrect, about item inventory and other logisticsinformation.

As is evident, there is a need for an improved approach that addressesthese problems associated with the prior approaches to implemententerprise applications and logistics queries.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for integrated logistics dataprocessing.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example application system for integratedlogistics data processing.

FIG. 3A shows an example method for implementing integrated logisticsdata.

FIG. 3B shows an example system process for implementing integratedlogistics data.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example screen display of a system implementingintegrated logistics data.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example screen display of a system implementingintegrated logistics data.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example screen display of a system implementingintegrated logistics data.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example screen display of a system implementingintegrated logistics data.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example screen display of a system implementingintegrated logistics data.

FIG. 8B shows an example method for processing logistics dataintegration.

FIG. 9 shows an example method for processing logistics datasummarization.

FIG. 10A illustrates a example table comprising license plate data.

FIG. 10B illustrates an example license plate hierarchy.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example screen display for implementingintegrated logistics data.

FIG. 12 shows an example method for determining loose quantities.

FIG. 13 illustrates example system architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments are described hereinafter with reference to thefigures. It should be noted that the figures are not drawn to scale andthat the elements of similar structures or functions are represented bylike reference numerals throughout the figures. It should also be notedthat the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of theembodiments. They are not intended as an exhaustive description of theinvention or as a limitation on the scope of the invention. In addition,an illustrated embodiment need not have all the aspects or advantagesshown. An aspect or an advantage described in conjunction with aparticular embodiment is not necessarily limited to that embodiment andcan be practiced in any other embodiments even if not so illustrated.Also, reference throughout this specification to “some embodiments” or“other embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure,material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentsis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of thephrase “in some embodiment” or “in other embodiments” in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the sameembodiment or embodiments. In addition, for the purposes of illustrationand explanation, the present disclosure is described in variousembodiments in the context of enterprise applications for warehousemanagement. It is noted, however, that the invention is not limited inits scope to warehouse management applications, and indeed, may beapplied to other types of applications as well.

Some embodiments of the invention address the above problems using animproved method and apparatus to manage logistics data. In embodimentsof the invention, users are not limited to accessing logistics datausing a desktop computer. Instead, users will be provided visibility ofavailable items within a warehouse via a mobile platform, e.g., a tabletapplication, that has the ability to intelligently access a number oflogistics information sources and display the information in aintegrated fashion to the user in the field.

FIG. 1 shows an example architecture of a system 100 for implementingintegrated logistics queries according to some embodiments of theinvention. The system 100 may include one or more users 102, and one ormore mobile computing devices 104, such as a tablet computer or cellularphone. However the systems and methods disclose herein may be utilizedon desktop workstations and the like.

The user 102 operates the system 100 to access and utilize applicationson an application server 107, to perform any activities operable usingthe application 106, such as an enterprise resource planning (ERP)interactive application. The ERP interactive application 106 may includean application protocol interface (API) 108 which is configured toexchange information with the client device 104. Further, the ERPinteractive application 106 may also comprise a logic engine 110 thatanalyzes what information is required to process integrated logisticsquery and configures views as explained below. The logic engine 110interfaces with one or more information sources 112, such as databases,through a multi-source API 212 (FIG. 2). The databases accessed mayinclude an inventory database 118, a warehouse information database 116,and a license plate information database 114. Examples of informationthat may be stored in a database that contains inventory data 118include the number of items available, the number of items on hand, orthe number of items physically present but committed. Examples ofinformation that may be stored in a database that contains warehousedata include locations of items, the locations of branches or plants,the zones or areas that are reserved for certain items within branchesor plants, information concerning logistics such as shipping andhandling information, and information regarding the physical dimensionsof items such as size and weight. Examples of information that would bestored in database that contains license plate data is license platedata for each item with an assigned license plate, including additionalinformation used to describe the items which may be customized perproject implementation, such as license plate items on hand oravailable. A license plate number is a type of abstract container ordata reference that may be used to hold or refer to items. For instance,in much the same way a cardboard box can hold a number of physicalitems, a license plate number (LPN) can be used to refer to a collectionof items which may or may not be physical in nature.

As an illustrative example, a user 102 may be in the middle of awarehouse (not depicted) standing in front of a group of assets 120. Thegroup of assets 120 may correspond to a number of items on a pallet, forexample, where it may be typical that the top-level item 122, such as apallet, contains a number of lots 124, which may further contain anumber of cartons, etc., thus creating a nested group of assets with animplicit hierarchy (i.e. the top level item 122 may be on one level, andthe lots 124 may be on a second level, etc.). The group of assets 120may also contain loose items 128 that may have been temporarily orcarelessly set on top of the pallet for later organization orprocessing, as may be typical in busy warehouse environments.

An item identifier 126 is illustrated on the top level item 122. Theitem identifier 126 may correspond to an item number or a license platenumber, that can be used to track, identify or otherwise process items.The lower level items such as the lots 124 or any further nested itemsmay also feature item identifiers. The item identifier shown is merelyillustrative and one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that anysort of identification symbol, such as item number, license platenumber, bar code, or alpha numeric identifiers, may also be used.

In the past, if the user 102 need to understand what was in the group ofitems 120 to make operational decisions, he/she would have limitedoptions such as writing down the item identifier 126 and going to theproper workstation, which may be located hundreds of feet away, toretrieve information concerning the group of items 120; or physicallytaking apart the group of items 120 and look inside to ascertain theirstructural relationships. However, both approaches may not be practicalgiven many warehouse situations. For example, the pallet may bespecially wrapped or sealed up, and the user may not be able to takeapart the pallet; or for instance, under the time pressure typical of alogistics or warehouse environment, walking over to a computerworkstation to look up item information may not commercially practical.In contrast, a user using the systems and methods disclosed herein coulduse the client device 104 to scan or otherwise input the item identifier126 to retrieve information from a number of databases 112, where theresults are processed and integrated into an easy to read layout on theclient device 104.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed illustration of the ERP interactiveapplication 106 and the logic engine 110. The logic engine may becomprised of a plurality of modules such as an analysis module 210, anextractor multi-source API 212, an assembler module 214, and a viewconfiguration module 216. Further, the logic engine may interface with aclient 206 using API 108. The analysis module 210 operates to receivethe query for logistics information and to determine what informationshould be requested or extracted from the databases 218. The extractormodule 212 acts as a multi-source API to retrieve the logisticsinformation from any number of different databases, each of which mayuse specific protocols. The assembler module 214 receives the multiplesets of logistics information from the one or more databases, andassembles them into an integrated logistics data set using techniquessuch as summarization and integration, which are described in moredetail below. The view configuration module 216 configures a view sothat the client device may display the integrated logistics data in aneasy to read fashion.

FIG. 3A shows an example high-level flowchart of how an integratedlogistics process 300 may be carried out. At step 340, the user query isreceived. As explained, the user query may be the item number or licenseplate number for an item, or a branch or pallet location. Once thesystem receives the user query, a determination is made whetheradditional information should be retrieved at step 342. For example, ifthe query was a license plate number, a determination is made whetheradditional warehouse data or inventory data should be retrieved inaddition to the license plate data. Whereas, for example, in a companywarehouse that does not implement license plating, the user query mightbe for a pallet location, in which case the determination in step 342would be directed to whether inventory data or other data should beretrieved in addition to the pallet data.

At step 344, the user query data and any additional required data fromstep 342 is retrieved and extracted from a number of databases orinformation sources. As explained below, the databases or informationsources that supply the user query data and or any additional data mayrequire different access protocols, thus a multi-source API orextraction module may be implemented.

At step 346, the data that is retrieved and extracted at step 344 isassembled, parsed, or otherwise processed so that it may be more easilyused by a client or user. For example, a license plate tree structurecan be created through a summarization process, as discussed below. Anadditional process that may assemble data is in integration processwherein the data from different sources is matched and/or collated tocreate one integrated table for the client device to display.

At step 348, a view is configured. The configuration view step may becompleted as part of the logic engine, or alternatively as part of theclient device 104. The view configuration step uses the integratedlogistics data that is processed at step 346, and further may use, orsend structure or form data, such as HTML/CSS layout data and/orJavaScript, to the client device so that the integrated logistics datamay be displayed in an easy to read fashion. At step 350, the integratedlogistics data set may be sent for further processing or display.

FIG. 3B shows an additional example of how the process may beimplemented. At 302, a user enters the query term, such as an itemnumber, into the client device using available input methods, such asscanning the item number or manually entering it on an in-screenkeyboard. At 304, the analysis module receives the user query 320 anddetermines what kind of data was received, e.g. a branch identifier,item number, and determines what additional data 322 is required tocomplete the query. For example, if the queried item has or isassociated with a license plate number, the analysis module maysynthesize a request for related license plate data, and also additionaldata such as inventory or warehouse.

The analysis module 304 then passes the information set requested to theextractor, at 306. The extractor may be configured as a multi-sourceAPI, that can contact multiple information sources and extractinformation from them even if they use different protocols. For example,if the data sources, such as inventory data 118, warehouse data 116, andlicense plate data 114, are all within an enterprise platform, thenfunction calls 324 may be used to extract the information from each ofthe sources. In contrast, if the license plate data 114 and thewarehouse data 116 existed within an enterprise platform, and however,the inventory data 118 existed outside the enterprise platform, on anexternal website for example, then the extractor 306 may use a functioncall 324 to extract the warehouse data 116 and the license plate data114, but then may use an API 326 to retrieve the inventory data 118. Inthis way, the extractor 306 is capable of retrieving any additionalinformation requested from the analysis module 304.

Once the appropriate data is retrieved, the extractor may send the datato an assembler at 308. The assembler parses and processes the dataretrieved to create integrated logistics data for the user. For example,if license plate data is retrieved in a table form, the assembler mayuse a summarizing process 328 to create a relational hierarchy for thelicense plate data. As another example, data retrieved from theinventory database 118 and warehouse database 116 on a given item 122may be integrated 330 so that a user can view both the inventory data(e.g. how many items are on-hand), and the warehouse data (e.g. thephysical dimensions of a item) in one view on the client device 104.

At 310, a view may be configured for the integrated logistics data sothat the data is more human readable and easier to manipulate on theclient device, which may have limited screen size or memory. Forexample, the view may be configured to show data from all threedatabases in one integrated table in a window, and other data setsspatially nearby in expandable or collapsible windows. Thus the viewconfiguration step configures the assembled data 332 to work with thelayout data 334, which may be HTML/CSS or JavaScript for example.Alternatively, the client device 104 may have the capability toconfigure the view using the assembled data from 308. Thus, at least insome implementations, view configuration at 310 may not occur within thelogic engine, but rather in the client device.

At 312, the assembled data, such as an integrated logistics data set,and the layout data 334 may be outputted to the client device fordisplay, manipulation, and further information queries.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example user interface 400 to display the datareturned by an integrated logistics query using the systems and methodsdisclosed. In a search area 402 the interface permits a user is tosearch using a number of parameters, such as item/location/lot data 404or license plate data 406. For example, in the item/location/lot data404 area, the user may search by the item number, a location, such asthe location of the pallet, the lot or item number, or the branch orplant identifier. In some embodiments a branch identifier or other termsmight be required in addition to an item number to narrow the search andincrease efficiency. Additionally, the user may be able to check a boxthat “omits zero quantities”, which allows only nonzero results to bereturned to the user.

As an example, the user can enter the item number such as “widget7” toinitiate an integrated logistics query. The system may query thedatabases and process the information, and return information in an ItemBalance window 408. The item balance window may feature number ofcolumns and rows. For example here, when a user searches widget7 theinformation returned is in the form of columns including data such asthe location, the lot or item number, the lot status code, the number ofitems available, the number of items on hand, the license plate quantityand a loose quantity.

If the user clicks on specific location data 414, which may be displayedas an action structure, such as a hyperlink or button, the applicationmay collapse the item balance window 408 and expand a license platestructure window 525 as shown in FIG. 5. There, the license platestructure for the specified location is displayed as a hierarchical treein a column 530, accompanied by other data columns, such as a containercode, a container code description, which may describe the physicalaspects of the container, the container unit of measurement (UOM), and acontainer UOM description.

Continuing to FIG. 6, a user may then click on a specific license platenumber 605 in the license plate structure window 525 which may pop up asub-form window of license plate items 610 which may share the screenspace with the license plate structure window 525, or may alternativelytake over the entire screen and collapse the license plate structurewindow.

In one embodiment, the sub-form window for license plate items 610displays items that are associated with the selected license plate 605.In other embodiments, the license plate items 610 sub-form may allow auser to review specific item license plates for any item. Also thelicense plate items may display parents and children of the licenseplates, and/or be accompanied by other columns such as data from thelicense plate database.

Notable here is that the “Available” and “On-hand” columns 612 may sharea similar name with the columns shown in FIG. 4. However, at least inthe example discussed here, the information from column 612 is from thelicense plate database, whereas the “Available” and “On-hand” data shownin FIG. 4 is from the inventory database. One difference is that whiledata from the inventory database typically corresponds to what isphysically available or on-hand, the license plate data corresponds onlyto items that have been assigned a license plate number.

One of ordinary skill in the art will immediately appreciate that thelicense plate structure tree and the license plate items allowsignificant efficiencies to be realized. For example, a user in themiddle of the warehouse standing in front of a group of assets 120 canuse the system 100 to immediately drill down into the group of assets120 to discover their implicit hierarchical structure in an easy to readintegrated view, all without leaving the site to access multipleapplications or databases, or physically deconstructing the group ofitems. Additional efficiencies are created by integrating informationfrom a plurality of databases into a single view using customizablecolumns and collapsible windows.

Thus far, the system has been described using three database informationsources as examples, namely inventory data, warehouse data, and licenseplate data. However the systems and methods disclosed herein workequally well if one of the data sources, such as license plate data, isomitted, which may be the case for a number of companies that only useinventory and warehouse data. FIG. 7 shows a view of the user interface700 that may be used in a system that does not use license platingfunctionality, although one of ordinary skill the art will appreciatethat the window shown can also be integrated into a system that useslicense plating functionality. In the illustration, a display is shown700 where a user has searched for an item. The information returned isshown in two windows: an item balance window 702 (collapsed) and thewarehouse location detail window 704. The warehouse location detailwindow 704 shows columns that allow a user to ascertain information suchas location details sequence, the primary quantity of the items, thenumber of items that have been committed, the primary unit ofmeasurement (UOM), and other information.

FIG. 8A illustrates another view of the example user interface 700showing how a user may customize the information that is displayedwithin a view. Specifically, the user may select the customize gridfunction 805 which will bring up a number of column options a user mayselect for display (not shown).

The data shown in a column may come from any one of the databases shownin FIG. 1 or other information sources. For example, comparing FIG. 4with FIG. 8 one sees that the item balance window is different: FIG. 4shows columns concerning loose quantities and license plate quantitieswhereas in FIG. 8 a user has used to customize grid function 805 todisplay items that have been “Committed” or “Soft Committed” 810.

FIG. 8B shows an example process 850 of how the integration process maybe performed by the logic engine so that the user may implementcustomized grids featuring information from different informationsources. At step 852, the process begins with the user query, and adetermination completed by the analyzer within the logic engine as towhether additional data from the three sources, such as the inventorydata at the warehouse data and the license plate data, is required. Atstep 854, the assembler receives the unintegrated information from theone or more sources. At step 856, the assembler may make a determinationas to whether the received data is from one or multiple informationsources. If the data is only from one source, then at step 858, theassembler may construct a single source table comprising theinformation, and return information for display processing at step 862.If the data is from multiple sources, then at step 860 the assembler mayconstruct a multisource table using relational database technologiessuch as primary keys for each of the received tables from the one ormore sources.

For example, if the user query is the license plate number “123” whichis assigned to “widget07”, then the process 850 may retrieve a licenseplate table from the license plate database using the license platenumber “123”, an inventory table from the inventory database using“widget07”, and a warehouse table from the warehouse database using“widget07”. Then at 860, the tables may be combined using relationaldatabase methods such as matching items or keys, such as primary keys,as is known in the art.

FIG. 9 shows one possible method that the logic engine may use tosummarize the license plate data and create the license plate structuretree. At step 902, the user makes a query for an integrated logisticsdata set on an item. At step 904, the system accesses the license platedatabase through the multi-source API to retrieve the license platetable data as shown in FIG. 10A. At step 906 the system may use thetable data shown in FIG. 10A to group the lowest license plate numbersin the level by finding all license plate numbers with parents andputting them in one group. Next at step 908 the system matches LPNsunder the same parent as siblings to summarize the level.

At step 912, the system then determines whether any of the LPNs in thelevel have parents one level up. If yes, then the system goes one levelup and groups the LPNs with parents and matches children LPNs under thesame parent as their siblings. The process repeats until all LPNs havebeen mapped into a hierarchy at step 914, which is illustrated in FIG.10B. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that FIG. 10 B ismerely a relational abstraction and may be used to output a displayhierarchy to the user, as is shown FIG. 5, at 530. Further, though theprocess described summarizes from the “bottom up”, the process may alsobe constructed “top-down”, whereby the tree is created by starting withthe highest level parent, then children are found, added, and groupedfor each level. One advantage of summarizing from the bottom-up is thatregardless of what item number or LPN a user queries, the results canalways be summarized by searching for parents and then summarizing eachlevel as additional parents are found.

Additional views, such as 2D spatial/pictorial structures may also becreated from the relational abstraction information, as illustrated inFIG. 11. There, the top level license plate is shown as a palletabstract 1102, which may contain lots LPN2, LPN3, and LPN4 in a lotlevel abstraction 1103, which may further contain additional cartonsLPN5-LPN12 in a carton abstraction level 1104. The spatial view examplemay be displayed in a window instead of the license plate tree as shownin FIG. 5, at 530. Thus, the user would be able to complete his/herlogistics query by manipulating virtual depictions of a pallet that theuser can virtually take apart, all without cutting into the group ofitems or leaving the location to access multiple workstations and/orapplications. Further, though the illustration in FIG. 11 shows a 2Dstructure, one of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that the sameprocesses can readily be used to create a 3D structures, which wouldallow a user to probe into the integrated logistics data in a 3D virtualenvironment resulting in a reality-enhanced integrated logisticstoolset.

Notable from FIG. 11 (element 1105) and FIG. 1 (element 128) are looseitems which have not been assigned license plates. Since loose items donot have assigned license plates, they are effectively hidden from thelicense plate system and architecture.

Typically inventory available/on-hand data matches license plateavailable/on-hand, however sometimes there is a discrepancy that can beused to obtain the loose item quantity. FIG. 12 shows one exampleprocess 1200 for finding loose items and returning those results to theuser in a display. The process begins with retrieving the license platedata from the license plate database at step 1202. The retrieved licenseplate data can be, for instance, the license plate “Available” and“On-Hand” data from the license plate database 114. Next at step 1204the system retrieves the quantity on hand information concerning theitems from the inventory database 118. Once those two data sets havebeen retrieved, the system subtracts inventory quantity on hand from thelicense plate quantity to arrive at the loose quantity at 1206. Fromthere, at step 1208, a loose quantity is generated or otherwiseoutputted for display.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example output of this process. There, row 410shows an available quantity of 69, an on-hand quantity of 69, and alicense plate quantity of 69. Thus, the user knows by looking at thisinformation as displayed on his/her client device that all the itemsunder “WIDGET7LOT2” are assigned license plates and are also accountedfor in the inventory system. In contrast looking at row 412, the numberof available items is 69 and the number on-hand is 69; however thelicense plate quantity is 64. When these two items are subtracted itproduces the result, 5, which corresponds to a loose quantity.

The discrepancy in this example exists because the Available and On-Handcolumns of FIG. 4 were retrieved from the inventory database 118.Whereas, the “License Plate Quantity” column is from the license platedatabase (which may also have data called “Available” and “On-hand”, seeFIG. 6). Thus, a loose item may have been inventoried but never assigneda license plate, and would thus be invisible to a license platingsystem.

By using the above process, a user would know that items under“WIDGET7LOT1” corresponded to an inventory of 69 items, 64 of which havelicense plates, and further that there is a quantity of 5 items that are“loose” and may be sitting on top of the pallet, for instance. In thisway, a user implementing the system and methods disclosed can use theclient device and application to not only track accounted for items butalso unaccounted for “loose” items.

Therefore, what has been disclosed is a novel approach for managingassets by implementing integrated logistics queries. By retrievingmultiple sets of logistics data, such as inventory data, warehouse data,and license plate data, and processing them using processes such assummarization and integration, a final integrated logistics data set maybe generated that can be displayed and manipulated on mobile devices,such as a tablet computer. The invention provides numerous advantagesover previous methods where a warehouse user inquiring into what a givenpallet contains, for example, may be forced to either cut into thepallet to ascertain its structure or write down the item number and goto a remote desktop workstation to get the required information. Incontrast, using the disclosed invention allows a warehouse user tosimply enter an item number into a mobile device and receive results inthe form of an integrated logistics data set, which the user can drillinto to quickly figure out logistics information such as how many itemsare available, committed, and what their physical structure is, withoutcutting into a pallet or leaving the work area. The invention alsocreates new data that was previously not available from the logisticsdatabases, such as loose quantity. Further, the invention also offersthe warehouse worker an array of user interface options which streamlineefficiency, such as collapsible windows, hierarchical structure trees,and 2D/3D virtual views of warehouse logistics information.

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an illustrative computing system 1400suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present invention.Computer system 1400 includes a bus 1406 or other communicationmechanism for communicating information, which interconnects subsystemsand devices, such as processor 1407, system memory 1408 (e.g., RAM),static storage device 1409 (e.g., ROM), disk drive 1410 (e.g., magneticor optical), communication interface 1414 (e.g., modem or Ethernetcard), display 1411 (e.g., CRT or LCD), input device 1412 (e.g.,keyboard), and cursor control.

According to one embodiment of the invention, computer system 1400performs specific operations by processor 1407 executing one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in system memory 1408.Such instructions may be read into system memory 1408 from anothercomputer readable/usable medium, such as static storage device 1409 ordisk drive 1410. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may beused in place of or in combination with software instructions toimplement the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and/orsoftware. In one embodiment, the term “logic” shall mean any combinationof software or hardware that is used to implement all or part of theinvention.

The term “computer readable medium” or “computer usable medium” as usedherein refers to any medium that participates in providing instructionsto processor 1407 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms,including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media.Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks,such as disk drive 1410. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such assystem memory 1408.

Common forms of computer readable media includes, for example, floppydisk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM,FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

In an embodiment of the invention, execution of the sequences ofinstructions to practice the invention is performed by a single computersystem 1400. According to other

embodiments of the invention, two or more computer systems 1400 coupledby communication link 1415 (e.g., LAN, PTSN, or wireless network) mayperform the sequence of instructions required to practice the inventionin coordination with one another.

Computer system 1400 may transmit and receive messages, data, andinstructions, including program, i.e., application code, throughcommunication link 1415 and communication interface 1414. Receivedprogram code may be executed by processor 1407 as it is received, and/orstored in disk drive 1410, or other non-volatile storage for laterexecution.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evidentthat various modifications and changes may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, the above-described process flows are described with referenceto a particular ordering of process actions. However, the ordering ofmany of the described process actions may be changed without affectingthe scope or operation of the invention. The specification and drawingsare, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather thanrestrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method for displayingmanaged assets, the computer implemented method comprising: maintaininga view module that generates a user interface that displays anintegrated data set from a plurality of databases for a particular item,the user interface having a first collapsible display portion and asecond collapsible display portion, the first collapsible displayportion comprising: a plurality of rows, each row of the plurality ofrows corresponding to specific item locations of the particular item, aplurality of columns that corresponds to each of the plurality of rows,the plurality of columns comprising a first column corresponding to aspecific location data represented as a hyperlink, wherein the pluralityof columns further comprises one or more additional columnscorresponding to item quantities, the second collapsible display portioncomprising a second plurality of columns, the second plurality ofcolumns comprising a column that displays a hierarchical treecorresponding to the specific location data of the particular item, thesecond plurality of columns further comprising one or more additionalcolumns corresponding to item container information, wherein the firstcollapsible display portion is collapsed upon receiving a user action onthe hyperlink and the second collapsible display portion is displayedwith the specific location data of the particular item location;querying, by a mobile client device, a first item using an identifier ofthe first item; retrieving, by an application, a first data set from adatabase chosen from a plurality of databases that correspond to thefirst item based at least in part on the identifier received from themobile client device, the first data set retrieved as relational data;retrieving, by the application, a second data set from the plurality ofdatabases that correspond to the first item, where the second data setis from a different database than the first data set; creating theintegrated data set corresponding to the first item by combining thefirst data set and the second data set, wherein at least a portion ofthe integrated data set comprises hierarchical data created from therelational data by: identifying children records from the relationaldata by grouping records having parent identifiers, and for each childrecord, mapping the each child record into the hierarchy by: identifyingsibling records by matching children records having a same parentidentifier, and identifying a parent record by matching a parentidentifier with a record within the relational data having the parentidentifier as its identifier; consolidating an output corresponding tothe integrated data set, the output comprising the hierarchical data andlayout data for displaying a hierarchical structure tree; sending theoutput to the mobile client device; and displaying, in a graphical userinterface on the mobile client device, the output, comprising:displaying, in the collapsible first display portion, one or more itemlocations of the first item, and upon receiving a user action on thehyperlink for the specific location data of the first item, collapsingthe collapsible first display portion and displaying, in the collapsiblesecond display portion, at least the hierarchical tree in the column ofthe second plurality of columns.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: retrieving, by an application, a third data set from theplurality of databases that correspond to the first item, wherein thethird data set is from a different database than the first and seconddata sets.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchical structuretree is a license plate hierarchy for a particular grouping of items. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein the output includes information on how todisplay the integrated data in collapsible windows.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein at least a portion of the integrated data set is usedto create a customized grid.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thecustomized grid is created by constructing a multisource table usingprimary keys for each received tables from the plurality of databases.7. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the integrated data setis created using an integration process.
 8. The method of claim 1wherein combining the integrated data sets creates new data that is notavailable in the plurality of databases.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: identifying a loose quantity data item from theintegrated data set; upon receiving a user selection on a row in thecolumn of the second plurality of columns in the second collapsibledisplay portion, collapsing the collapsible second display portion anddisplaying, in a third collapsible display portion, additionalinformation corresponding to the first item; identifying one or moreitem quantities based at least in part on a number of items available, anumber of items on hand, a number of items physically present but notcommitted, a license plate quantity, a loose quantity, or a committedquantity; identifying one or more item container information based atleast in part on a container code, a container code description, acontainer unit of measurement (UOM), or a container UOM description;upon displaying the output immediately after consolidating the output,displaying the first collapsible display portion as an expanded displayportion and displaying the second collapsible display portion as acollapsed display portion; scanning an identifier of a first iteminitiates the querying of the first item; and maintaining a logic enginecomprising an analysis module, an extractor multi-source applicationsprogramming interface (API), an assembler module, and a viewconfiguration module, the analysis module receiving the querying of thefirst item, the extractor multi-source API retrieving data from one ormore databases corresponding to the first item, the assembler moduleassembling the data into the integrated data set, and the viewconfiguration module configuring a view displaying the integrated dataset.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the integrated data set includesat least one of the following: license plate data, inventory data, andwarehouse data.
 11. A system for managing assets, comprising: a computerprocessor to execute a set of program code instructions; and a memory tohold the program code instructions, in which the program codeinstructions comprises program code to perform: maintaining a viewmodule that generates a user interface that displays an integrated dataset from a plurality of databases for a particular item, the userinterface having a first collapsible display portion and a secondcollapsible display portion, the first collapsible display portioncomprising: a plurality of rows, each row of the plurality of rowscorresponding to specific item locations of the particular item, aplurality of columns that corresponds to each of the plurality of rows,the plurality of columns comprising a first column corresponding to aspecific location data represented as a hyperlink, wherein the pluralityof columns further comprises one or more additional columnscorresponding to item quantities, the second collapsible display portioncomprising a second plurality of columns, the second plurality ofcolumns comprising a column that displays a hierarchical treecorresponding to the specific location data of the particular item, thesecond plurality of columns further comprising one or more additionalcolumns corresponding to item container information, wherein the firstcollapsible display portion is collapsed upon receiving a user action onthe hyperlink and the second collapsible display portion is displayedwith the specific location data of the particular item location;querying, by a mobile client device, a first item using an identifier ofthe first item; retrieving, by an application, a first data set from adatabase chosen from a plurality of databases that correspond to thefirst item based at least in part on the identifier received from themobile client device, the first data set retrieved as relational data;retrieving, by the application, a second data set from the plurality ofdatabases that correspond to the first item, where the second data setis from a different database than the first data set; creating theintegrated data set corresponding to the first item by combining thefirst data set and the second data set, wherein at least a portion ofthe integrated data set comprises hierarchical data created from therelational data by: identifying children records from the relationaldata by grouping records having parent identifiers, and for each childrecord, mapping the each child record into the hierarchy by: identifyingsibling records by matching children records having a same parentidentifier, and identifying a parent record by matching a parentidentifier with a record within the relational data having the parentidentifier as its identifier; consolidating an output corresponding tothe integrated data set, the output comprising the hierarchical data andlayout data for displaying a hierarchical structure tree; sending theoutput to the mobile client device; and displaying, in a graphical userinterface on the mobile client device, the output, comprising:displaying, in the collapsible first display portion, one or more itemlocations of the first item, and upon receiving a user action on thehyperlink for the specific location data of the first item, collapsingthe collapsible first display portion and displaying, in the collapsiblesecond display portion, at least the hierarchical tree in the column ofthe second plurality of columns.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein theprogram code instructions comprise program code to further perform,retrieving a third data set from the plurality of databases thatcorrespond to the first item, wherein the third data set is from adifferent database than the first and second data sets.
 13. The systemof claim 11, wherein the hierarchical structure tree is a license platehierarchy for a particular grouping of items.
 14. The system of claim11, wherein at least a portion of the integrated data set is createdusing one of the following: a summarization process or an integrationprocess.
 15. The system of claim 11 wherein the integrated data setsinclude new data that is not available in the plurality of databases.16. The system of claim 11, wherein the program code instructionscomprise program code to further perform: identifying a loose quantitydata item from the integrated data set; upon receiving a user selectionon a row in the column of the second plurality of columns in the secondcollapsible display portion, collapsing the collapsible second displayportion and displaying, in a third collapsible display portion,additional information corresponding to the first item; identifying oneor more item quantities based at least in part on a number of itemsavailable, a number of items on hand, a number of items physicallypresent but not committed, a license plate quantity, a loose quantity,or a committed quantity; identifying one or more item containerinformation based at least in part on a container code, a container codedescription, a container unit of measurement (UOM), or a container UOMdescription; upon displaying the output immediately after consolidatingthe output, displaying the first collapsible display portion as anexpanded display portion and displaying the second collapsible displayportion as a collapsed display portion; scanning an identifier of afirst item initiates the querying of the first item; and maintaining alogic engine comprising an analysis module, an extractor multi-sourceapplications programming interface (API), an assembler module, and aview configuration module, the analysis module receiving the querying ofthe first item, the extractor multi-source API retrieving data from oneor more databases corresponding to the first item, the assembler moduleassembling the data into the integrated data set, and the viewconfiguration module configuring a view displaying the integrated dataset.
 17. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitorycomputer readable medium, the non-transitory computer readable mediumhaving stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed bya processor causes the processor to execute a method for accessingstream data corresponding to an electronic design, the methodcomprising: maintaining a view module that generates a user interfacethat displays an integrated data set from a plurality of databases for aparticular item, the user interface having a first collapsible displayportion and a second collapsible display portion, the first collapsibledisplay portion comprising: a plurality of rows, each row of theplurality of rows corresponding to specific item locations of theparticular item, a plurality of columns that corresponds to each of theplurality of rows, the plurality of columns comprising a first columncorresponding to a specific location data represented as a hyperlink,wherein the plurality of columns further comprises one or moreadditional columns corresponding to item quantities, the secondcollapsible display portion comprising a second plurality of columns,the second plurality of columns comprising a column that displays ahierarchical tree corresponding to the specific location data of theparticular item, the second plurality of columns further comprising oneor more additional columns corresponding to item container information,wherein the first collapsible display portion is collapsed uponreceiving a user action on the hyperlink and the second collapsibledisplay portion is displayed with the specific location data of theparticular item location; querying, by a mobile client device, a firstitem using an identifier of the first item; retrieving, by anapplication, a first data set from a database chosen from a plurality ofdatabases that correspond to the first item based at least in part onthe identifier received from the mobile client device, the first dataset retrieved as relational data; retrieving, by the application, asecond data set from the plurality of databases that correspond to thefirst item, where the second data set is from a different database thanthe first data set; creating the integrated data set corresponding tothe first item by combining the first data set and the second data set,wherein at least a portion of the integrated data set compriseshierarchical data created from the relational data by: identifyingchildren records from the relational data by grouping records havingparent identifiers, and for each child record, mapping the each childrecord into the hierarchy by: identifying sibling records by matchingchildren records having a same parent identifier, and identifying aparent record by matching a parent identifier with a record within therelational data having the parent identifier as its identifier;consolidating an output corresponding to the integrated data set, theoutput comprising the hierarchical data and layout data for displaying ahierarchical structure tree; sending the output to the mobile clientdevice; and displaying, in a graphical user interface on the mobileclient device, the output, comprising: displaying, in the collapsiblefirst display portion, one or more item locations of the first item, andupon receiving a user action on the hyperlink for the specific locationdata of the first item, collapsing the collapsible first display portionand displaying, in the collapsible second display portion, at least thehierarchical tree in the column of the second plurality of columns. 18.The method of claim 17 further comprising: retrieving a third data setfrom the plurality of databases that correspond to the first item,wherein the third data set is from a different database than the firstand second data sets.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein thehierarchical structure tree is a license plate hierarchy for aparticular grouping of items.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein atleast a portion of the integrated data set is created using one of thefollowing: a summarization process for an integration process.
 21. Themethod of claim 17 wherein combining the integrated data sets createsnew data that is not available in the plurality of databases.
 22. Themethod of claim 17, further comprising: identifying a loose quantitydata item from the integrated data set; upon receiving a user selectionon a row in the column of the second plurality of columns in the secondcollapsible display portion, collapsing the collapsible second displayportion and displaying, in a third collapsible display portion,additional information corresponding to the first item; identifying oneor more item quantities based at least in part on a number of itemsavailable, a number of items on hand, a number of items physicallypresent but not committed, a license plate quantity, a loose quantity,or a committed quantity; identifying one or more item containerinformation based at least in part on a container code, a container codedescription, a container unit of measurement (UOM), or a container UOMdescription; upon displaying the output immediately after consolidatingthe output, displaying the first collapsible display portion as anexpanded display portion and displaying the second collapsible displayportion as a collapsed display portion; scanning an identifier of afirst item initiates the querying of the first item; and maintaining alogic engine comprising an analysis module, an extractor multi-sourceapplications programming interface (API), an assembler module, and aview configuration module, the analysis module receiving the querying ofthe first item, the extractor multi-source API retrieving data from oneor more databases corresponding to the first item, the assembler moduleassembling the data into the integrated data set, and the viewconfiguration module configuring a view displaying the integrated dataset.